Brief notes from two of the studio improvisors. They were asked to discuss their involvement in the studio process after being played some of my laptop improvisations:

Dan Thorpe

I played to Al’s work, and played to what I thought he’d want, but then went beyond that also. I played to create something that was already complete, I thought of the recording session as one whole piece. Sampling is interesting because you take something that is complete and make something new out of it.And though it's complete, you can take something from it, without making it any less complete.

Meredith Lane

Listening to a sample of myself used in a piece feels removed from how I remembered playing, but I don’t feel precious about being recontextualized. The studio recording process was helpful, even though I consider the material Al's property and not mine, it was interesting to see how I’d play in that context. I was unfamiliar with being recorded in a studio, so I thought about playing in a different way - I tried to vary the session as much as possible, but felt like I got trapped in the nuances of my own style.

I’m considering using the elements of the recording for my own work, but perhaps re-recording them myself.